Russia's foreign spy agency denied Saturday that Moscow gave Saddam Hussein information on U.S. troop movements and plans during the invasion of Iraq, while analysts speculated the Pentagon claim was tied to a growing rift between the West and the Kremlin.

A Pentagon report Friday cited two captured Iraqi documents as saying Russia obtained information from sources "inside the American Central Command" in Qatar and passed battlefield intelligence to Saddam through the former Russian ambassador in Baghdad, Vladimir Titorenko.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service dismissed the claims.

"Similar, baseless accusations concerning Russia's intelligence have been made more than once," agency spokesman Boris Labusov said. "We don't consider it necessary to comment on such fabrications."

Yevgenia Albats, a Moscow-based journalist who specializes in intelligence matters, said she suspected there was "at least a certain truth reflected in the Pentagon report," considering Russia's close relationship with the ousted Iraqi leader.

But she cautioned that didn't necessarily mean the Kremlin was involved.

"It is sometimes difficult to figure out whether certain steps were undertaken with the knowledge of top Russian authorities or whether those were steps undertaken by certain intelligence officers on their own," Albats told The Associated Press.

She also said the release of the Pentagon report probably had as much to do with the poor state of Russian-U.S. relations as their differences over the Iraq war, which along with other disputes have frayed a once promising partnership between Presidents Bush and Vladimir Putin that developed after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Albats noted the report appeared on the heels of Putin's trip last week to China, which added to U.S. unease over strengthening Moscow-Beijing ties. That development has caused Washington to recognize "it had lost whatever leverage it had over Russia," she said.

"It wasn't just another visit to China, it was a statement addressed to the United States," she added. "There is concern in Washington that China plus Russia, combined, will present a real problem for the United States."

A leading Russian Internet news agency, Gazeta.ru, speculated the Pentagon report was released to affect the U.N. Security Council debate on what to do about Iran's nuclear program as Russia and China are resisting U.S. and European demands for a tough stand.

"The leak about Russian spies in Doha can be interpreted as pressure on Moscow, which has taken a tough, principled position on the Iranian nuclear question," it said.

Sergei Oznobishchev, head of the Institute of Strategic Evaluations and Analyses, also tied the report to increasing U.S. distrust for Russia.

"They are irritated by Russia's strengthening position in the international arena and its foreign policy course," Oznobishchev was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

The Pentagon report wasn't the first to raise questions about Russian help for Saddam's regime at the time of the invasion in March 2003.

At the time, Gazeta.ru reported that two retired Russian generals visited Baghdad less than 10 days before the U.S.-led offensive and speculated they were advising the Iraqi military. The report showed photographs of them receiving medals from Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta, a newspaper believed at the time to have well-placed contacts in Russia's military and intelligence spheres, reported in March 2003 that Russian intelligence agents were holding daily meetings with Iraqi officials.

The unclassified Pentagon report did not assess the value or accuracy of the information Saddam got or offer details on Russia's information pipeline.

The Iraqi documents also left unclear who may have been the sources at Central Command's war-fighting headquarters, which is at Camp As Saliyah just outside Doha, the capital of Qatar. No Russians were authorized to be at the closely guarded base.

---

On the Net: http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2006/pa032406.htm

Update

The other striking thing in Document CMPC-2003-001950 was why the Russians should be particularly worried about the smallest component of the deployment:

4- The ambassador pointed that what worried us (most probably us refers to the Russians) was the increase in the number of planes in Jordan where the number of planes in Al Sallt base was as follows: 24 planes F-16 10 planes Tornado 11 planes Harrier He also mentioned that there were 10 A-10 tank destroyers in the Jordanian base of King Faysal.

Why were these relatively small forces so worrisome? My guess is their location near the Iraq-Syrian border and the composition of these air units were suggestive of support for an air assault attack on traffic to and from Syria.

What was moving between Iraq and Syria that would be of concern to the Russians?

"Why were these relatively small forces so worrisome? My guess is their location near the Iraq-Syrian border and the composition of these air units were suggestive of support for an air assault attack on traffic to and from Syria."

"What was moving between Iraq and Syria that would be of concern to the Russians?"

How about those WMDs that went away, and the MSM and Rats for Saddam knew the WMD's were out of Iraq before the first stage of the war was over.

5
posted on 03/25/2006 4:42:22 PM PST
by Grampa Dave
(How long has the NY Slimes, Compost, and LA Slimes been Enroning (cooking) their books?)

A common find during the initial push to Baghdad were the Russian-style PVS-5 night vision goggles. Now, that is some old technology (to us) so it could have been sitting in storage for years. But we were finding the things in new condition, still in the hard cases. No way to tell, I guess, when it was obtained. Given the "Three Kings" atmosphere in the few months after the liberation of Baghdad, you might see those things pop up on eBay every now and then.

There is an interesting 'Saddam and Company' discussion in the Leavenworth documents concerning International Oil Politics. Russia moves are all about controlling oil. France and Russia actually buy more oil then they need, and then sell the excess at cost on the market. They do this just to: increase volume; increase their share of the International Oil Pie; and therefore increase their importance in the world oil market. Russia also prefers to use imported oil and save its domestic reservoirs for strategic purposes. At least according to Saddam and Company.

If the French people were not rioting all the time, they might actually wonder why their government is selling excess oil at costs instead of increasing their supply and lowering their price ?

And that brings us to Iran. After finding out that Putin has a habit of supplying tyrannical enemies of the Western nations with military intelligence to use against us, the last country we should trust with Iran's nuclear program is Russia. We can also kiss off the UN; as long as Russia has its veto, that route will lead nowhere. Russia has revealed itself to be a major part of the problem in the Middle East, and we should stop pretending that they are part of the solution.

At least now we know why the CIA and John Negroponte wanted these documents to remain sealed.

Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's last foreign minister, Naji Sabri, was a paid spy for French intelligence, which later turned him over to the CIA to supply information about Iraq and its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs more than six months before the war began in March 2003, according to former senior intelligence officials.

Although some CIA officials met informally with Sabri, who traveled extensively outside Iraq, the French and the CIA used a third-country intermediary when attempting to get information from him about Hussein's inner circle and weapons programs, according to the retired officials who refused to be identified because the information is classified.

***********************************************

This was the Iraqi receiving the Russian Reports....according to comments on the Captain's Quarter Blog.....

Well, since no sane person would believe them no matter what they say [even if they were to recount the multiplication table], the most dignified position for them would be to shut their orifices and avoid stinking up the place.

Watch the vermin squirm as the (finally) newly released documents are translated at warp speed by the blogosphere. It's especially touching how the Left strives to avoid their impending annihilation by editorializing these revelations. The time for their honoring (of) themselves will soon be at an end.

23
posted on 03/25/2006 6:28:54 PM PST
by Mad_Tom_Rackham
(A Liberal: One who demands half of your pie, because he didn't bake one.)

""It is sometimes difficult to figure out whether certain steps were undertaken with the knowledge of top Russian authorities or whether those were steps undertaken by certain intelligence officers on their own," Albats told The Associated Press."

Hogwash. This statement is simply providing the Russian government with cover.

The reports of Russian cooperation with the regime in Baghdad and Iraq's intent to deploy suicide operatives in Europe come together in the days before the war in Iraq, when Russian President Vladamir Putin privately warned the Bush administration that Saddam Hussein was preparing suicide attacks against the United States and U.S. interests abroad.

"After Sept. 11, 2001, and before the start of the military operation in Iraq, the Russian special services, the intelligence service, received information that officials from Saddam's regime were preparing terrorist attacks in the United States and outside it against the U.S. military and other interests," Putin said, according to RIA Novosti, the Russian news agency. "American President George Bush had an opportunity to personally thank the head of one of the Russian special services for this information, which he regarded as very important," the Russian president told an interviewer while in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan.

Could it be that Russian intelligence had picked up on the Blessed July operation due to their close connections with the Hussein regime and the Iraqi intelligence services, and Putin felt compelled to offer a shadowy, non-specific warning to Bush in private?

Moscow based military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer described the reports of Russian assistance as "quite plausible" and added that "a unit affiliated with the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Department, known by its abbreviation GRU, was actively working in Iraq at the time of the U.S. invasion of Iraq."

"Just damn,....the Ruskies are nailed:" Thanks for ping. Even the compost on occasions provides articles that somewhat support the reasons for going into Iraq. Of course this article is a bit bland in detail, but so be it. Until books are produced that give full details in easy to read form many Americans will not be informed. It is just the nature of the beast.

31
posted on 03/25/2006 6:58:44 PM PST
by Marine_Uncle
(Honor must be earned)

It is sometimes difficult to figure out whether certain steps were undertaken with the knowledge of top Russian authorities or whether those were steps undertaken by certain intelligence officers on their own

And we are surprised by their reaction why? Of course they're going to deny it. But I'm sure everyone from Bush on down knows the Russians helped get them out. It's too bad he can't call Putin on it on national TV.

And any student of biblical prophesy knows the Russia along with present day Turkey, Iran, and even possibly Iraq as well will launch an attack on Israel so this doesn't surprise me. It's just another reason to look up and count down.

Hey Ernest, you remember when one of the MSM stations did a story about missles and other things missing in Russia? They actually showed corrugated steel buildings unguarded and the reporter was shown inside. I bet I can't find it. It was Nightline, 60 minutes or some hour long news show.

In reference to Russia and Iraq documents, just found this nice little exchange buried in one document.

ISGQ-2003-M0004667

LIEUTENANT GENERAL AMIR:... We have succeeded in a few of the UN paragraphs, we have won Russia, ahhh we have convinced Russia by way of generous accounts [payoffs] in which, you remember how and why it happened

Would love to discover the details of those 'generous accounts', along with the how and the why.

"It is sometimes difficult to figure out whether certain steps were undertaken with the knowledge of top Russian authorities or whether those were steps undertaken by certain intelligence officers on their own," Albats told The Associated Press.

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